Private Tales Bad Habits

[Alaric Von Stein]

Near the mountains had been his hunting grounds. It was out of the way from his residence and didn't draw too much suspicion with disappearances with the assortment of creatures that called the mountains their home. But over the past few days, what used to be plentiful land has now dried up and Alaric was personally feeling it as he was famished and felt his cravings remind him ever so slightly that he needed to feed.

The mountains provided a path for trade caravans to cut through in order to shorten their trips by a few weeks at least if they managed to take the right path. But the past few days, the roads had been completely empty and he had heard rumors of attacks and creatures that took the supplies for themselves. It had caused fear and the mountain paths were barely used as a result. Alaric was there himself to find out the cause of the disturbance personally and his nose caught the scent of blood and he could hear the sound of it flowing through a web of veins that belonged to a human. After so many years of being a vampire, he got good at being able to tell which blood type belonged to what race. With unnatural speed, he cut through the trees and forest and tracked the scent to its source.

When he found what would be a caravan, he stayed in the treeline as his crimson eyes tracked it smoothly. It held a single lamp to illuminate its path and there were crates tied together in the back to signal it out as a merchant. A few moments passed and Alaric was ready to step forward but that's when he caught the scent of others. With his sensitive ears, he could even hear the slightest of sounds and he caught the snapping of twigs and crunch of leaves from multiple sets of feet all around him.

The vampire remained in the shadows, contorting them to envelope his form and hide him. From his position, it wasn't that long until he could see movement from multiple figures cutting through the tall grass toward the carriage.

 

[Vyx'aria]

For once, Vyx wasn’t the one sneaking around in the woods. She was the one inside the caravan, and she felt horribly out of place. She had posed as a guard for a wealthy merchant, and she hoped it would be a new means of getting into a rich nearby city. The city didn’t mind elves and other races, but she had to ensure she had valid means of getting in. Being spotted by a Dreadlord the moment she entered Vel Anir had been a lesson learned.

The merchant was a portly man that had chubby fingers with an expensive ring on each. He had at least three chins and layers upon layers of expensive necklaces. For the last hour, he had been gabbing away about himself and how he was quite the important man in the city. She was ‘lucky’ to have the job of being his guard and he planned to pay her handsomely.

He began to reach to touch her face and Vyx came close to slicing his hand off. That was when the caravan began to slow slightly, the horses getting restless and stamping their hooves. Vyx’s jaw tightened and she tightened her grip on her blade.

“What’s going on?” The merchant called out far too loudly, “Why are we slowing down?”

 

[Alaric Von Stein]

The merchant glanced around, beads of sweat proceeding to fall down in streams along his skin. "Hello?" He spoke to Vyx and that's when his eyes caught the figures heading straight for them. "There!" But as he soon as he spoke, the figures launching themselves from the grass and toward the carriage. It was a horrendous roar and a sound that the drow queen would be familiar with. They were orcs but the kind that resided underneath the earth with her kind.

The fighting had drawn them closer to the surface and not every tribe of orc was united under her banner just yet. One of the orcs simply used the muscles in his legs to jump on top of the carriage and face Vyx as he pulled out two swords. Another orc climbed on the vehicle in order to get on her flank and start to attack her. A few more were in the grass, holding short bows as they let loose a few arrows.

Alaric watched it transpire before him and he nearly thought to wait and watch. But as soon as that came, his hunger reminded him that it didn't have the same patience. He wasn't particularly fond of orc blood and there appeared to be more of them then the guard for the caravan, practically ensuring the caravan's doom. unbeknownst to him, the guard was the queen of the drow and was a mage as well.

With his hunger controlling his thoughts more than logic, the shadows slithered off of him and he burst forward silently with incredible speed towards the caravan and ensuing fight.

 

[Vyx'aria]

Vyx cursed to herself as the orcs came out into the open. Unlike the greenskins of the surface, these had the pale and silvery flesh of those that dwelled in the Underrealm. The Drow had to keep the idiot merchant alive at all costs.

She whirled her blade into the neck of the orc at her flank and shoved him in front of her. A series of arrows whizzed through the air and impaled his back as she used him as a shield. The merchant kept screaming and Vyx turned to face him.

“Shut up!” She hissed. He only cried out in fright and attempted to run. Vyx gritted her teeth and spun the blade in her hand and slammed the hilt of it against his head. He was knocked out cold, but he was at least not making a whole lot of noise.

Vyx focused back on the orcs, picking up one of the arrows. She slammed the arrow into the neck of another orc that was lumbering towards her. As she was quickly fighting off multiple orcs at once, she had no sight of the vampire that snuck into the scene.

The vampire had a straight path towards the unconscious merchant.

 

[Alaric Von Stein]

Alaric was a blur from his movements and as the merchant was knocked out, he only appeared a few seconds later behind Vyx and standing beside the merchant. The vampire glanced down at the man, black veins protruding around his eyes at the thought of his blood wetting his tongue but that's when his ears picked up something about to charge him.

He spun on his heel to face one of the orcs that broke off in order to sneak toward the merchant. The creature swiped left and right with his blade but the vampire was simply too fast. When the blade came down again, Alaric's own arm came over the top and above the crook where the orc's elbow was. The orc lifted his arm right into the vampire's to stop it in its tracks and before he could realize was what was going on, Alaric slammed his palm into the hilt of the weapon and shoved it back through the orc's chest.

Blood spurted out and despite his hunger, Alaric still wouldn't drink from an orc. When he turned attention back to the woman who was facing off against the orcs, he watched the commotion for a few seconds before simply turning to the merchant and picking him up with one hand off the ground. Alaric was too hungry to just ignore him and his fangs protruded from his mouth and sank them into the man's throat and tore into it, the crimson liquid spilling into his mouth as he drank it with the feeling of ecstasy coming over him.